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Fan Art Friday: Wizards

I am an illustrator and graphic designer and love to see other people’s illustrations of my favorite characters. Fan art Friday is a semi-regular feature where I highlight book inspired fan art from the web.

In this episode of Fan Art Friday, I will feature my top 5 favorite mages, wizards and other magic users. Please visit the artists (by clicking on the image or the link provided) to support them and see the full image!

1. Raistlin Majere

The mage’s white skin had turned a golden color. It glistened in the firelight with a faintly metallic quality, looking like a gruesome mask. The flesh had melted from the face, leaving the cheekbones outlined in dreadful shadows. The lips were pulled tight in a dark straight line. But it was the man’s eyes that arrested Tanis and held him pinned in their terrible gaze. For the eyes were no longer the eyes of any living human Tanis had ever seen. The black pupils were now the shape of hourglasses! The pale blue irises Tanis remembered now glittered gold!

Raistlin is my favorite character in anything, ever. This sarcastic and bitter, intelligent man is never fully appreciated by his companions, although I do understand how others could get annoyed with his remarks. There is this shell around Raistlin that he allows almost nothing to pierce through. A very complex character, and my favorite mage of all time. I like that Altana depicted the character in his red robes.

From the Dragonlance novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
First appearance in Dragons of Autumn Twilight, 1984
(Before that appeared in a short story in Dragon magazine)

2. Aloysius Crumrin

He shot her a withering glance with his terrible eyes. ”Would you like some hot cocoa?”

Courtney Crumrin’s bad-ass uncle Aloysius is my favorite character from this series of graphic novels. He is such a powerful warlock! Together with Courtney they form a wonderful power duo! It was hard to find Aloysius fan art on the web, but ArcanePrayer captured his profile well.

3. Howl

The tall young fellow in a flamboyant blue-and-silver suit who had just come in stopped in the act of leaning a guitar in the corner. He brushed the fair hair from his rather curious glass-green eyes and stared back. His long, angular face was perplexed.

I love Howl! He is such a diva, throwing temper tantrums and worrying about his looks almost above all else. Green slime, anyone? But there’s also a more vulnerable side to Howl which makes him such a great character. I like that Mevelan’s artwork looks like a poster/book cover.

4. Harry Dresden

Karrin and I are a study in contrasts. Where I am tall and lean, she’s short and stocky. Where I have dark hair and dark eyes, she’s got Shirley Temple blond locks and baby blues. Where my features are all lean and angular, with a hawkish nose and a sharp chin, hers are round and smooth, with the kind of cute nose you’d expect on a cheerleader.

There was a time when Harry could have been higher on my list, but due to the latest novels’ changes to the character I’ve begun to grow a bit tired of him. But I just can’t help but love his smart-ass ways. It was hard to find a picture of Harry that looked anything like the character in my head, but Kreugan got the messy “haven’t slept in three days” look that defines Harry to me.

From the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
First appearance in Storm Front, 2000

5. Jonathan Strange

In person he was rather tall and his figure was considered good. Some people thought him handsome, but this was not by any means the universal opinion. His face had two faults: a long nose and an ironic expression. It is also true that his hair had a reddish tinge and, as everybody knows, no one with red hair can ever truly be said to be handsome.

Jonathan Strange is by far the more sympathetic one from the two title magicians of this novel. There are other characters in the book that I love more, but I like Strange, and appreciate him as the more charismatic foil to Norrell. As you can see from the description above, Eminina really captured the character, especially the faintly ironic expression.